CHAPTER 299: CODEX

The older folks in the arena had their eyes wide open. When that supreme artifact first appeared in the universe, it went through long, careful study. Using blessings of analysis and artifacts of foresight, they came to the conclusion that it held three terrifying top-tier prizes — what they ended up calling divine techniques.

But the artifact was such a powerful array that nothing could be taken from it by force. It had been built to test young people and, only then, grant rewards. The only solution they found was to hold this tournament and hope that, over time, someone would earn those three divine techniques. But up until that day, it had never happened.

Now, right in front of Darian, the three spheres of light pulsed with a heavy, almost scary energy. Those with eight or nine rings were sure from the fluctuations that these were the legendary rewards.

Darian took a deep breath, having no idea about any of this. To him, this was simply the prize for winning.

As he looked at the three balls of light, he realized he had to pick one. The supreme artifact hadn’t automatically made the choice for him, which he found a bit odd.

Tuning into his senses, he noticed the difference: each sphere radiated a different kind of life energy. In other words, he had to choose between vitality, soul power, or mental power.

Darian could control all three, but he had no deep knowledge or specialized techniques in any of them.

’Hmm... thanks to the Heart of Nature, the twins’ vitality and Niara’s vitality are already pretty high. On top of that, my mutant stellar physique is also boosting my vitality. Everyone’s gonna benefit from this right now.’

Without hesitation, Darian reached for the middle sphere. When he touched it, he didn’t feel anything at first — then suddenly, a sharp stab of pain shot through his palm, making him instinctively pull back.

The three spheres vanished, and Darian noticed a glowing rune on his hand. It sank into his body, and a name popped into his mind:

’The Codex of Anchored Life.’

Darian’s heart raced. This wasn’t just a magic technique — it was vast, dense knowledge... from a Necromancer!

Necromancy is the art of dealing with life energy, or its absence. For a necromancer, this energy can be manipulated, transferred, or locked away. They’re the ultimate scholars of everything tied to this power.

One of the key traits of a necromancer is the creation of undead — considered a variation of summoning.

Seeing Darian’s look of satisfaction, countless people felt envy, especially the older ones who already wished they could crush him.

At that same moment, small runes flowed from the supreme artifact toward the 98 other participants, each receiving a magic technique as expected.

The tournament was over — but the silver light on the stage didn’t fade. It kept swirling around Darian, making him look even more imposing.

The younger crowd lit up with excitement, quickly leaving the stands and heading toward the stage. The champion was now seen as the new wise figure of the generation, and everyone had the right to ask him questions.

Darian watched as the stage became surrounded by bright-eyed young people. Confused, he got a message from Irana explaining the tradition.

He nodded — then suddenly felt a silver energy wrap around him. In an instant, he floated more than ten meters into the air, right below the supreme artifact.

The excitement in the arena went up another notch. Darian sighed, and his expression gradually became serious.

"Sir Darian, they told me you’re from Earth, right? I also came from a mid-tier planet, but I feel like I can’t compete with people from rich planets. What should I do?" asked a girl who looked about the same age as the twins.

Darian met her eyes and replied calmly:

"Just work hard. Don’t envy the people who get things easily. They were born with everything and got used to living that way. People from big, powerful places have a quick start and might have higher average power, but very few reach the top. They always end up hitting a wall they don’t know how to break. Sure, there are talented ones among them. But the people who work hard, grow slowly, and never stop — they keep going. Life’s not about being the fastest, it’s about being the most consistent, moving forward no matter how tough it gets."

"How can I become someone everyone respects?" a young man asked next.

Darian nodded. "No matter what you do, you can’t earn everyone’s respect. Just be yourself. And when it comes to other people’s praise or criticism, don’t give it too much weight."

"Do you have a girlfriend? Can I take you to see my planet sometime?" a woman with a playful smile suddenly asked.

Niara narrowed her eyes, while Darian was left speechless. Tayluar’s voice rang out immediately, scolding the woman — that kind of question wasn’t appropriate here.

Everyone wanted to at least ask one question. The girls, especially, leaned toward personal ones — some bold, some disguised as serious — catching Darian off guard.

He tried answering them all; sometimes with seriousness, sometimes with random, offhand replies to the inappropriate ones, which only made the girls laugh.

From a distance, Irana and her mother watched with faint smiles.

"The Big Brother name has now spread across every human planet. Almost all the top young people of this generation like him," Irana murmured, her eyes shining.

Time passed, and after two hours, the silver light finally went out. That was the limit — otherwise, he could’ve spent days up there answering everyone.

Right away, Darian was taken to the flying ship and headed back to planet Aethel.

Irana and six other young people from her planet had also gotten amazing magic techniques, so they gathered for a small but lively celebration.

After the party, Irana spoke seriously: "This time, you’ve managed to get famous among the young humans of the universe... but you’ve also offended the most powerful human planets. The demons still want your head, they’ve just taken a break. But now, a whole new group of enemies will be trying to kill you too."

Darian had damaged their honor and cut off their profits. So they’d definitely team up with the demons and the Wube family to get revenge.

"Pfft... idiots are everywhere," Niara replied with a proud smirk. "And honestly, it’s good — more people for us to strip of their resources, right, Dan?"

He gave a small nod. The idea of keeping a low profile had been tossed aside a while ago. Now, if he wanted to reach the top, he had to lure in the wolves so he could take everything their pack had.

Darian sighed. He just needed to... draw them in a bit more slowly, not all at once — or things would get out of hand.

After the celebration, Darian went to his room and began studying The Codex of Anchored Life.

It was a dense, detailed read about life energy, full of methods to manipulate and use it — exactly what Darian wanted. But its main focus, and the longest section, was on creating undead.

Basically, the book explained how to use the necromancer’s own life energy to create a "life rune," which would be bound to them inside a body.

This would stabilize the body and stop it from decaying. After that, the necromancer could place a soul in the body, greatly boosting the creature’s power and intelligence. Or, if they preferred, they could make simpler, easier runes, turning the body into a disposable soldier that could fight and perform basic tasks.

After studying it for a while, Darian got excited — he realized he could weave several of these ideas into his own spiritual technique.

The foundation of his art was the creation of Meru’s shadow and light runes. But he had already added in a method from a supreme artifact crafted by a demon, and now, he could upgrade it even further.

One of the main problems — both for Summoners from the other universe and those who had become summoners because of him — was that their partners couldn’t stray too far away.

Some might not think that was a big deal, but depending on the situation, having a partner who could move freely was a huge advantage. Take Rhea, for example — now that Leander handled everything in the clan, she still had to stay there constantly and couldn’t do much beyond helping in that area.

But... with this necromancer life rune... maybe that could change.

Niara would be the test subject. Darian could handle life energy with ease, so for him, reproducing what was described in detail was simple.

Soon, a pulsing rune was created, and he linked it to Niara.

He called Irana over, then sent Niara far away.

Darian focused on feeling their connection... and before long, Niara was literally on the other side of the planet.

"Success," he confirmed, excited.

Thanks to that rune, their link wasn’t affected at all by the distance. Maybe... she could even go to another planet or galaxy.

New ideas immediately flooded his mind. When Niara returned, he upgraded the life rune, making it far more powerful than the necromancer’s original version.

His control over life energy was much broader and more precise, which made this possible. In no time, a much larger life rune stabilized perfectly.

"I don’t know if this will be useful, but you should be able to move freely through the universe without me," Darian said.

Niara heard this and let out a heavy sigh. She didn’t want to be far from him, but...

...every day, she felt more like just an accessory to him. At the same time, Darian was becoming greater and greater, being recognized and adored by everyone.

The day she’d be almost useless to him felt close. Thinking about it threw her mind into chaos — she couldn’t accept it. But with this change, she felt she might be able to seek her own opportunities and try something Darian couldn’t.